School security measures could cost millions locally

New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties are considering measures big and small, and none has decided what to implement.

By Pressley BairdPressley.Baird@StarNewsOnline.com

School districts across Southeastern North Carolina have spent thousands on security measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Looking ahead to the 2013-14 school year, that price tag could reach into the millions.New Hanover County: Putting deputies in all 25 elementary schools for the remainder of the 2012-13 school year is costing $600,000, with $280,000 paid by the county commissioners and $320,000 paid by the school district. The school district will spend up to $200,000 more for a security and safety audit at all 47 of its buildings. Keeping the deputies at the elementary schools for the 2013-14 school year would cost about $1.18 million.Brunswick County: The school district is spending $245,838 to put deputies in all nine of its elementary schools for the rest of this school year.Pender County: School officials are requesting that the county commissioners fund two additional sheriff's deputies. The district is also requesting that the county spend up to $48,000 on front-door security systems and $59,000 on camera systems.All three districts are also looking at other safety measures. Some of them are minor, costwise – cutting tall bushes where someone could hide a weapon or a person, or changing the way school visitors sign in. Some will take a bit more funding – adding cameras in and around school buildings and putting buzz-in intercoms at main entrances. None of the districts have decided exactly what, if anything, they'll implement, or how much it will cost. But past figures provide an example. New Hanover County has about 2,000 surveillance cameras throughout its 47 buildings, which cost the district about $2.9 million overall, said Dawn Brinson, the district's chief technology officer. The district also uses Ident-A-Kid software at several of its schools for visitors' badges, purchasing printers at $100 each and badge labels at about $8 a roll. In New Hanover County, school officials will use the results of the upcoming security audit to decide what extra measures to put in place. "If we have to spend money that we don't have, or we have to spend money that the public doesn't have, then we have to decide where that's coming from," said Rick Holliday, assistant superintendent for student support. "Then, of course, the question is, ‘What do you not do to do this?' And since safety is the most important thing, we have to take a look at that first."